In a star’s shadow

By Olukorede Yishau

When you pray every morning, ask God for the grace not to die in the company of a big man or a star; this will save you from a situation where only your family will mourn you in silence. There will be so much noise about the big man everywhere and it will be as though you never matter. Also pray not to die when a big man is to blame for an avoidable tragedy. If you do, it will just look like you are without a name. You will be identified as one of the others who were lost to the accident.

Since Kobe Bryant, the ex-American basketball player, died with his daughter in an helicopter crash, I have thought more about the unfair nature of our world. Even in death, there is classicism. Some days back, Mrs. Bryant held a memorial for her late husband and daughter Gigi. The way the event went made me ask: Did the Byrants die alone? The answer is: No!

Basketball Coach Altobelli also died with his wife Keri and daughter. Of course, the pilot, Ara Zobayan, who was on January 26 taking them to the girls’ basketball game in Thousand Oaks, California, is also gone. Three others – Christina Mauser; Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton – perished in the crash.

But, in the sight of the world, it is as though only Bryant matters. His daughter is getting mentioned because of him. Thanks to having a famous father!

A similar situation played out in Nigeria when ex-Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh was killed. It was initially thought that his driver was also killed, but it was as though he was not important. He would have died without a name. Death visited in the dying hours of that Tuesday in the form of men without brains but brawn. They pumped hot lead into Air Chief Marshal Badeh. They also shot his driver. Badeh’s death revealed the unfairness of humanity.

When a poor man dies in the company of a big man, he becomes nothing but a footnote. It is like his death means nothing. Almost everybody will talk about the big man while the poor or unpopular man or woman’s family will mourn in silence. It is also not good to die in a tragedy where one of the key culprits is a big man who those in authority cannot move against. When you die in these circumstances, you become mere footnote.

The victims of the Uyo church tragedy, whose deaths seem to have gone in vain, is another example of how and where not to die. It is over three years since the tragedy. It all played out at Reigners Bible Church Int’l Inc. The founder of the church was to be ordained a bishop. He is not a small fry so the church was jam-packed. Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel came with some of his commissioners and aides.

But thirty minutes into the governor’s arrival, hell literally came down. No thanks to human error, the church’s iron pillars gave way and the blue roofs came thumping down. Of course on people! An account even said someone was cut into two by the iron pillars. A policeman who reportedly saved the governor is now six feet below. And some others broke their necks, their limbs and their back. The founder of the church, Pastor Akan Weeks, had his leg broken.

As typical of our nation, no one appears sure of how many people died. The day after the incident, we saw figures as high as 160 in the media. It was attributed to Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, who later denied it. Police gave the figure as 29. Governor Emmanuel said only 23 died. And no one is willing to give the names of the dead. Not even two years after. And there is no memorial anywhere with their names inscribed.

This tragedy turned the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Anua General Hospital, Life Care Hospital and the Ibom Specialist Hospital into Mecca of some sort. In these hospitals, those who defeated death received treatment to heal their broken necks, arms, backs and heads. Tears from families of those recuperating rented the air in these hospitals for months. The story at the mortuary sections was grimmer.

For students of the University of Uyo, and the Uyo City Polytechnic, believed to have been worst hit by the disaster, reality looked like a dream. Emmanuel’s men, who crawled out of death’s hole, had interesting testimonies to share. His Chief Press Secretary, Ekerette Udoh, said an iron rod nearly cut his neck, but eventually hit him on the back. The cap of his left knee was broken and pains travelled all over his body.

Charles Udoh, who joined the State Executive Council only some one week before the disaster, thought he was watching a movie when the pillars started coming down. He was on his way out of the church to catch a flight when tragedy struck. He would have been out but protocol demanded that he told the governor before vanishing from the church hall. It was this protocol-induced task he was accomplishing when death almost took him away. He had to run here and there to prevent the iron pillars from turning him to a candidate for the mortuary.

Nollywood actor Ekere Nkanga, who has acted almost all roles imaginable, was humbled when he had to wade through bodies to safety.

“Shortly after the governor and his entourage and the bishops took their seats, the next thing I heard was the bang from the falling iron. By the time the iron came down, I noticed that people from the safe areas were running to the centre, where I was sitting.

“I hid under some people. A few seconds later, as I was trying to get up, the body of a man cut into two and fell on me. There were other corpses on me. I looked out for my brother but I couldn’t find him. Later, I found my phone. I called the Chairman of Uyo Local Government Area to mobilise rescue officials to the venue.” Nkanga managed not to have a direct impact with falling rods, but by that Saturday evening, he discovered his neck was broken.

Of all those who died in the tragedy, we were lucky to identify Josephine Effiom because of her mates at the polytechnic, who described her as ‘one of the first three brilliant chaps in my class’.

The result of the panel set up by Emmanuel has been less than impressing. No one has, in the real sense, been punished for men’s evil on men. The victims seem to have died in a wrong place and at the wrong time. Till this day, I believe the tragedy was avoidable if procedures had not been circumvented. The enquiry shows clearly that corners were cut but there is no consequence and that is why it will happen again.

My final take: We cannot all be popular. We cannot all be rich, and classicism is not going away any time soon, but we can at least ensure justice and fairness. Or is that too much to ask?